Eve half closed her eyes, holding the note in her hand, and slowly stroking the rough surface.

It goes without saying that the note must have been written by Bai Shuichuan.

But the question is - what is his purpose in doing this?

She unfolded the crumpled note again and read the words on it in the moonlight.

Bai Shuichuan wrote quickly, with characters of varying sizes, and some of the connected strokes were difficult to discern, blurring together. Eve stared at it for a moment, tightened her fingers, and tore the note into pieces.

"Seven." She called out softly.

Qi, who was leaning against her, turned sideways and looked at Eve calmly with his obsidian eyes.

Eve lowered her voice and asked, "Are they all asleep?"

Qi tilted his head and listened for a while, then nodded.

Eve calculated the time and found that it was not much later than the time Bai Shuichuan mentioned. She thought for a while and was about to get up when she heard a rustling sound from the other side of the room.

A tall and thin figure stood up and approached her cautiously.

He was very clumsy. Even though it was obvious that he was extremely careful, he still made some noises while moving. Because of this, he took every step very slowly and nervously. By the time he reached Eve's side, the latter was tired of holding the knife in her pocket.

"Hey," the man bent down and whispered in Eve's ear, "I'll wait for you next door."

It's Baishui River.

He was too close, and his breath tickled Eve's cheek. She frowned slightly, and Qi seemed to sense it. The shadow tail that had originally enveloped Eve slowly opened, and the spikes moved towards Baishuichuan.

But halfway through the movement, he was pinned down by Eve.

Eve cast a warning glance at Qi, then looked back at Bai Shuichuan and whispered a word: "Okay."

Bai Shuichuan seemed to be relieved, and quickly pulled himself away and walked towards the door.

Eve slowly stood up. She stared at Bai Shuichuan's back, her green eyes flashing with an indistinct light. After a long moment, she gestured to Qi, "Let's follow."

***

The next room was connected to the room they were staying in now. It had been cleaned out by Song Shuye and others a long time ago, and there were no zombies in it.

As Eve and Qi opened the door, they heard Bai Shuichuan's urgent voice: "You are finally here!"

He took two steps forward and suddenly stopped.

——Qi’s shadow tail stood up, pointing at Bai Shuichuan with a full warning.

Bai Shuichuan: "You...what are you going to do?!"

"Sorry," Eve patted Qi's arm and smiled, "He doesn't trust people very much and is quite cautious."

She had expected Bai Shuichuan, with his sharp personality, to complain, but upon hearing this, he revealed an expression of sudden realization and muttered, "That's true... If I were to encounter something like that, I might be even more sensitive than he is."

Eve raised an eyebrow.

Sure enough, Bai Shuichuan knew Qi.

But what she couldn't understand was that Qi was a zombie before, so why was Bai Shuichuan not afraid of him at all?

Eve lowered her eyes. She had to get more words out of the child.

"By the way," she said casually, "you said you saw Qi before... Can I ask where you saw him?"

Bai Shuichuan: "Why are you asking this?"

"Well," Eve said slowly in response to his question, "Actually, I picked up Qi on the street. He seems to have lost his memory and can't speak, so I still don't understand his origins."

She carefully observed Bai Shuichuan's expression and continued, "For example, if his family and friends knew he was still alive, they would definitely want to see him, right?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Shuichuan showed a strange expression.

"I beg your pardon," his tone suddenly changed, becoming more sarcastic and bitter. "Those who go 'there' are either already alone, or their loved ones have sold them out for a small profit..."

"'There'?" Eve caught his word choice sensitively. "Where is there?"

Judging from Bai Shuichuan's expression, he seemed reluctant to mention this.

"Black City," he said slowly after a long pause, taking a deep breath as if to overcome some obstacle, "the headquarters of the Queen Bee."

Eve frowned.

Wait, that doesn't make sense.

If Bai Shuichuan saw Qi in Heicheng, then why was Qi later transferred to Qingshan Base?

And... there's another problem.

Qi was already a zombie when he was at Qingshan Base. So was he human or a zombie when he was in Black City? Does this have anything to do with why he was transferred to Qingshan Base?

She was about to speak again, but was interrupted by Bai Shuichuan.

"Since you mentioned Black City," he said, "let's get straight to the point."

Eve suppressed the surprise in her eyes: "Theme?"

"Yes." Bai Shuichuan said solemnly.

The young man was standing facing Eve. The faint moonlight shone on his face, outlining deep and shallow shadows. His expression was hidden behind the shadows, making it difficult to see clearly.

"I ask you..." He spoke very slowly but firmly. With each word he uttered, Eve slowly opened her eyes.

"Are you...willing to help me kill Yu Kui?"

***

There was a moment of silence in the room.

"Kill Yu Kui? Why?" Eve asked.

She observed Bai Shuichuan's expression. His facial features were tense, as if he had a stiff stone mask on his face. If you look closely, you will find that the corners of his mouth are trembling slightly.

——He’s not kidding.

Eve lowered her eyes.

"But what should we do?" She twirled her hair with her fingers. "Qi and I still want to join the headquarters. I heard that the treatment at the headquarters is many times better than at the branch office, and..."

"Are you crazy?!"

Bai Shuichuan interrupted her, his eyes wide in disbelief: "Since you picked up... him," he pointed vaguely at Qi, "don't you understand what the Queen Bee is up to?! You actually want to go to Black City?! Just for that little bit of nuclear crystal?!"

His last words were practically hysterical.

"Shut up," Eve said with a warning in her eyes, "Do you want to lure Yu Kui over here?"

Bai Shuichuan's breathing stagnated, and annoyance appeared on his face: "...No."

"What did you mean by that?" Eve waited until he calmed down a bit before continuing, "What exactly is happening in Black City? What secrets does Queen Bee have? And what does this have to do with Seven?"

Bai Shuichuan's lips moved, but his voice was so soft that Eve could only vaguely make out what he said from the shape of his lips.

Bai Shuichuan said: "...I can't say."

"Why?" Eve raised her eyebrows. "Since you want my cooperation, you must at least give me a convincing reason."

"I..." Bai Shuichuan's expression suddenly became quite ugly for some reason. He seemed to be trying to resist something. His face flushed red and his mouth opened and closed. But after struggling for a long time, he was still defeated. He said with a look of frustration, "I... I can't say it."

"'Can't say'?" Eve's sharp eyes almost poked a hole in his face, "Or... can't say?"

There's a huge difference between the two.

Bai Shuichuan remained silent. From Eve's perspective, his mouth was tightly pursed into a line.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Come to think of it, I still don't know what Yu Kui's special ability is," she suddenly changed the subject, "Can you tell me?"

Bai Shuichuan hesitated and whispered, "You...I advise you not to provoke him. He is very powerful. No one can resist his methods."

Eve seemed to be unconvinced and let out a long sound through her nose, "Oh——?"

"It's true!" Bai Shuichuan suddenly became excited. "He can do mind control... You know PUA? No, no, no... It's a bit similar to that, but not exactly the same." He made a sound that was almost sobbing. "No... I'm scared... I can't resist him!"

"But if you don't tell me about his abilities, how can I help you?"

Bai Shuichuan took a deep breath.

"I can't tell you," he stared at Eve, "I can only tell you two things."

"First, you absolutely cannot go to Black City," he said rapidly, as if he didn't want his tongue to touch the two words at all. "Yu Kui has noticed you. There's nothing we can do about it. Your ability is too special. He'll probably invite you to the headquarters."

Seeing Eve about to speak, Bai Shuichuan raised his voice: "But no! No matter what conditions he offers, you can't agree to them, because... because once you enter the Black City, you can never get out!"

A thoughtful look appeared in Eve's eyes.

Bai Shuichuan may not understand how much information is revealed in his words.

"I'll consider your suggestion," she said. "What about the second one?"

Bai Shuichuan made a gesture of wiping his face.

His face was already drenched in sweat, his bangs were wet and stuck to his forehead in strands, and his tone was a little hoarse.

"I believe we must kill Yu Kui within Zishui City," he said word by word. "This is our last chance—if he gets out and contacts headquarters, we'll be doomed."

He looked deeply at Eve, with a strange light in his eyes.

"This isn't just for yourself," he said solemnly, "even for Qi...if you don't want him to suffer, then follow my advice."

***

"Eve? What's wrong with you?"

The next morning, as everyone was packing their luggage, Shoufeng whispered, "You look listless."

Eve paused as she put away the medicine box.

"Maybe I didn't sleep well last night," she smiled nonchalantly, "The hospital floor is too hard."

"That's right!" Fang Yong heard the conversation and joined in, agreeing deeply, "I only lay there for five hours, but I felt like my waist was about to break!"

"Eve." A rough voice suddenly sounded behind him.

The three of them turned around, their eyes showing surprise.

Yu Kui stood behind them, a friendly smile on his dark face. He asked Eve, "Are you free now? Can I borrow your room for a few minutes?"

"What's wrong?" Fang Yong asked puzzledly.

"Nothing," Yu Kui said, "I just want to talk to her about something. Of course," he suddenly emphasized, "it's just me and her."

Shoufeng shuddered imperceptibly.

When Yu Kui spoke, he seemed to have a hidden meaning, and his eyes were fixed deeply on her.

Doesn't this mean he doesn't want her to eavesdrop? Shoufeng thought to herself, Fang Yongze grabbed her and said, "Then let's go to the side."

After the two walked away, Yu Kui withdrew his gaze and smiled at Eve: "I heard Song Shuye say that you and Qi are reserve members?"

"Yes," Eve said briefly, "We participated in this mission in order to be promoted to the headquarters."

Yu Kui: “That’s great.”

He seemed to be relieved, met Eve's puzzled eyes, and smiled slightly: "I was thinking of inviting you to join our Queen Bee headquarters, you know-"

He placed his hand on Eve's shoulder and said earnestly, "A supernatural power like yours is rare and high-scoring. If used properly, it will definitely be of great use..."

His words stopped abruptly.

A thick and long black tail spread up from behind Eve's shoulder and tightly wrapped around Yu Kui's hand. He subconsciously wanted to shake it off, but found that he could not resist the power of the shadow tail.

Qi walked over slowly and stood in front of Eve, using his body to separate the two of them. His pupils were as black as night, staring intently at Yu Kui.

Yu Kui's expression changed subtly: "He..."

Eve was also a little surprised: "Seven?"

Seven didn't like other people to have physical contact with her - Eve knew this habit, but she had never seen him show such deep hostility.

Thinking of what Bai Shuichuan said last night, Eve's inquiring eyes fell on Qi's face. Could it be that he and Yu Kui...

But Yu Kui spoke again at this moment, staring at Qi strangely: "Have I seen you before?"

Seven meals a day.

"Wait, you look familiar," Yu Kui leaned forward and said hurriedly, "Don't move! Let me take another look..."

He had just stretched out a hand when he was stopped in the middle.

Yu Kui was stunned and lowered his head. Eve looked at him with a smile.

"Sorry, Qi doesn't like people touching him," she said. "He's quite sensitive, and if you get too close he's likely to overreact."

She looked at Yu Kui's restrained hands meaningfully.

Yu Kui's expression changed.

The next second, he put away his fearful expression, laughed and let go of her hand: "It's okay, I understand."

Eve raised her hand slightly, and Shadowtail obediently retreated.

Yu Kui's smile remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened, and he continued with the previous topic: "So, what are your intentions? If you are willing to be transferred to the Queen Bee headquarters, I will contact the cadres at the headquarters as soon as I leave Zishui City."

Eve smiled.

"Okay," she said, her eyes narrowed into crescents, "It's my honor to be promoted by you, a cadre."

Yu Kui looked at Qi tentatively: "Then he..."

Eve said, "He will be with me."

Upon hearing this, Yu Kui's smile, which had been floating on the surface, slightly spread across his eyes. "It is an honor for Queen Bee to have two such outstanding psychics."

Eve accepted his praise with a smile, then suddenly changed the subject: "But I heard from Song Shuye that Bai Shuichuan also has a rare and high-scoring ability, doesn't he?"

When she mentioned Baishuichuan, the smile in Yu Kui's eyes froze: "Oh?"

"I remember he said..." Eve tilted her head and recalled for a moment, "Bai Shuichuan's ability is [Amplification]? Can he enhance other people's abilities?"

"Yes," seeing Eve still staring at him, Yu Kui could only continue, "He also belongs to the trait system, and can enhance other people's abilities to a certain extent. For example, if my current ability is C-level, after his enhancement, it can be raised to B-level."

"But there are limits, right?" Eve asked.

Yu Kui nodded. "He must have physical contact with the target, and the range of ability upgrades is limited. It's easy to upgrade from C-level to B-level, but there's no example of an upgrade to A-level yet."

"According to Queen Bee's plan, his ability shouldn't have so many flaws..." Having said this, Yu Kui suddenly stopped and looked up at Eve.

Eve seemed unaware of this and asked curiously, "Yeah, Bai Shuichuan's ability is actually quite tricky—in actual combat, he has to follow his target, but he can't protect himself, which is a bit of a shame."

Yu Kui stared at her closely, and only relaxed his expression after confirming that Eve hadn't noticed anything: "Why did you suddenly mention him?"

"Well," Eve smiled a little embarrassedly, "Actually, Bai Shuichuan came to me last night and said he hoped I could help him escape."

"What did you say?!"

Yu Kui's expression changed drastically, and he grabbed Eve's wrist. "What did he say to you? What were his exact words?!"

Eve frowned slightly.

"You hurt me." She stared at Yu Kui's hand that was holding hers and said coldly.

The next moment, a flash of black light flashed across the sky - Qi raised his shadow tail, and the spike just stopped at Yu Kui's throat, only a few centimeters away.

Qi's delicate facial features seemed to be covered with a thin layer of ice, and his warning gaze swept across Yu Kui's face, leaving a cold touch.

Yu Kui's expression changed and he let go of Eve: "Sorry, I got a little excited."

Eve smiled and said, "It's okay."

"I'm sorry... could you tell me the details again?" The impatience that had flashed across Yu Kui's eyes faded, replaced by a look of concern. "The main thing is that this kid has always had a deep misunderstanding of the Queen Bee. I'm worried he might do something stupid out of impulse."

"Oh?" Eve opened her eyes. "What misunderstanding?"

"Bai Shuichuan is an orphan," Yu Kui said. "His parents died in a car accident before the apocalypse. According to the law, he was given to live with his aunt. However, his aunt also had two children, and after the apocalypse, they couldn't afford to take care of three minors, so they entrusted Bai Shuichuan to us."

Eve asked, "Where is his aunt now?"

"Dead," Yu Kui said, "None of their family had evolved superpowers. A zombie attack... and the whole family mutated."

Eve blinked. "It's a shame."

"There's nothing we can do about it," Yu Kui shook his head. "In these apocalyptic times, human life has become as insignificant as a feather."

"But Bai Shuichuan believed we were responsible for his aunt's death," he continued. "At the time, considering their family had no ability to protect themselves, we arranged a place for them in a base. However, within a few months, that base was attacked by a zombie wave."

"So Baishuichuan is hostile to you?" Eve asked.

Yu Kui smiled and said, "He's still young, so it's not surprising that he would think so."

"In short, I'm not defending Queen Bee," Yu Kui said, "but even if Bai Shuichuan is hostile to us, I still have to say this - Queen Bee doesn't owe him anything."

He patted Eve meaningfully and said, "As for what I just told you, think about it yourself."

After saying that, he turned and left, apparently going to find Song Shuye.

Eve stopped where she was, following Yu Kui's back with an inquiring gaze until he was out of her sight.

If she still had doubts about Bai Shuichuan's words last night, after talking with Yu Kui, she was basically certain that Bai Shuichuan was not lying to her.

——At least, the part about Seven is true.

She did not ignore Yu Kui's reaction when he saw Qi. Maybe he, like Bai Shuichuan, had met Qi once in the past, but Qi's appearance had changed a lot compared to a few months ago, so it was normal that Yu Kui did not recognize him.

But no matter what, it is an established fact that he has an impression of Qi.

As for the Black City part...

Eve pondered secretly. Yu Kui seemed a little strange when he mentioned Bai Shuichuan's ability. He mentioned Queen Bee's expectations for Bai Shuichuan's ability... What did that mean? What did he mean by "there shouldn't be so many flaws"?

Eve had an inexplicable intuition that this might be related to Bai Shuichuan's prevention of her from going to Black City.

But...he might be disappointed.

Now it seems that she has to go to Black City.

"Tell me," she turned to look at Qi, "if we go to Queen Bee headquarters, will we see the officer who issued the warrant for your arrest?"

Seven remained silent.

For a moment, his mouth moved slightly, almost as if he was about to speak, but Eve waited for a few seconds, and Seven pursed his lips again, took a few steps forward, and rested his chin on her shoulder.

The two shadow tails drooped on the ground, looking like a distraught black dog.

Eve's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Qi Jian's chin was pressed against her shoulder blade, and the warm skin came through the fabric, leaving a strange touch.

For some unknown reason, she didn't push him away.

***

An hour later, everyone was ready to set off.

They found another jeep in the hospital parking garage, which greatly shortened the time it took to get out of town.

When assigning cars, Bai Shuichuan seemed to want to go with Eve, but before he could open his mouth, Yu Kui had already cut off his thoughts: "Bai Shuichuan, come with me. We need two more people, Lin Bing and Shoufeng, come over."

Bai Shuichuan needed protection, and Yu Kui's arrangement was understandable. Bai Shuichuan's face fell, and he got into the jeep without even looking at Yu Kui.

"What a bad temper." Fang Yong muttered softly.

"The child is probably in his rebellious phase," Song Shuye said nonchalantly, "Let's go, they're leaving, let's get in the car quickly."

Yu Kui was familiar with the terrain of Zishui City. He drove in front and led Song Shuye and his team out of the city.

Along the way, with Eve controlling the zombies, they were not delayed at all. After just one hour, they could vaguely see the city wall.

Fang Yong became excited: "Great! I can finally leave this damn place!"

"Don't relax too soon," Song Shuye shook his head. "Let's talk about this after you leave Zishui City."

"Wait," Eve suddenly said, "Look ahead, Yu Kui has stopped."

The other two looked up in surprise and saw that Yu Kui's car had stopped at the intersection ahead.

"What's going on?" Song Shuye rolled down the window and shouted to Yu Kui, "Is there a problem with the car?"

Yu Kui said, "The car is fine, but before we leave the city, I have something to tell you. Please get off."

Although everyone was puzzled, they still obeyed. Song Shuye turned to the two and said, "Let's go."

Eve sat in the parking space without moving, and pulled Fang Yong, who was about to open the door, and said, "Wait a minute."

"What's wrong?" Fang Yong asked curiously, "Get out of the car quickly, people are waiting."

Eve's eyes fell on the car opposite.

She said slowly: "...but Bai Shuichuan didn't get off the car."

At this time, Lin Bing and Shoufeng had already gotten out of the car. From her perspective, she could see that Bai Shuichuan was also about to get out of the car, but was pushed back by Yu Kui. The latter seemed to say something to him, and Bai Shuichuan's face suddenly turned bad after hearing it.

"Seven," Eve slowly let go of Fang Yong and said to Seven, "Get ready."

"Prepare?" Fang Yong was surprised. "Prepare for what..."

“Bang, bang, bang—!”

The second half of his words was interrupted by a burst of violent gunfire!

"Get down!"

Almost at the same time, Eve suddenly roared, held Fang Yong down and threw him under the car, and Qi's shadow tail opened instantly, propping up a black protective shield above the car!

"What's going on?!" Fang Yong looked at Eve in disbelief. "We've been ambushed?! Who is it?! That hostile organization... Polaris?!"

He was about to continue, but was stopped by Eve: "Shut up," she said coldly, "He spoke."

Fang Yong trembled: "...Who?"

Eve didn't say anything, but raised her long, white neck and looked out the window.

Amidst the fierce gunfire, Yu Kui's cold voice rang out:

"Kill them all," he paused, "don't spare a single one."

The author has something to say:

The contestants in this plot tried hard to spread the sweetness.

Did you eat it!!!